NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures traded slightly higher early Thursday ahead of the latest data on U.S. petroleum supplies due later in the session. December crude oil rose 62 cents to $56.78 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. Earlier, the contract hit an intraday low of $54.67 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration will release its weekly data on U.S. petroleum supplies at 11 a.m. Eastern, a day late because of the Veterans Day holiday.
